Andrea Heimer, The 30x30 Project, And Me

I received an e-mail from one Andrea Heimer today. I was giddy at the sight of her name in my inbox before I even read the e-mail, because I have been a fan of her art for years. See? We even have one of her pieces on our wall:

If you’re receiving this email it means I’ve painted a portrait inspired by one of your photos as part of my 30x30 watercolor project! For the 30x30 project I relied heavily on Flickr and blogs for inspiration, so it simply means I stumbled upon a photo you took I found interesting, funny, intriguing, or beautiful.

The 30x30 project is a series of 30 watercolor portraits I painted in 30 days. The project started out as a way to flex my watercolor muscles while supporting my belief in affordable artwork, but it became a little something more once I got going. I began to notice the best of the lot captured small but important interactions between people: an eye crinkled in laughter, a cheeky grin, an arm slung around a shoulder. Before I knew it I had stacks of wet pages of just such moments-- and I absolutely loved them. Camaraderie was the ticket! It is the ticket, I truly believe that.

It is as though her reinterpretation of the image has given it a timeless, almost iconic, feel, by which I mean to say that it be all awesome and shit.

This is one of the many things I love about the internet. The opportunities for inspiration and creativity are limited only by your internet speed and access to wifi.

Go check out the entire 30x30 Project and the original photographs linked to below each painting, and, if you are so moved, support the woman's art. She's been bringing the world great art for years, and she can't very well keep doing that without money for paint and canvasses now, can she?